In this cooperative fantasy board game, players are Avatars who move around the world to find mystics and cities, and gain treasures and Soulshards by combat in monster infested Lairs. After they improve, they must defeat the Stronghold Guardians in hope of revealing all the Light Wells before the Shadows (run by the game) grow and escape Shadow Realm trying to also find a Light Well and use its power to call forth Xulthul! Once this evil is summoned, the heroes’ only hope is to defeat Xulthul in combat before it can extinguish the last Light Well, destroying the world.

The game is very thematic. Each Avatar has a unique Mastery card granting it two abilities, one of which requires a “Soulshard” to power. While movement is dice-based, you can always move at least one hex. There are several types of cities and mystics to reveal, and monsters are randomly generated (Stronghold Guardians are fixed) making it impossible to know exactly what you’re going to find in any given Lair.

There is a lot of dice rolling in combat. Combat is done in rounds with a simple 1d6 for both sides, but modified by several factors (potions, treasures, abilities), some set, most random, each of which may require its own dice roll. A single combat round might require half a dozen or more dice rolls. And there will probably be multiple rounds.

In truth, this system can build quite a combat narrative! My sword roll fails but my amulet roll helps guide my blow and if I hit, my potion roll might add damage. If I’m hit, my shield rolls might stop extra points of damage. The variable nature of item rolls can make each combat exciting or tedious depending on how you view dice rolling.

The artwork is minimalistic, with tokens, not miniatures, but this does not detract from the depth of game play.

Overall, I find Shadows of Malice to be a great solitaire and multiplayer cooperative fantasy adventure game. The rules are well written and the game play straightforward. A complex but not complicated game. Lots of strategic choices from whether to band together to assault a Stronghold before the Shadow gets there, or to split up and go after separate goals. If you’re looking for a solid cooperative or solo fantasy adventure, Shadows of Malice is highly recommended. And there’s an expansion, Seekers of a Hidden Light, coming soon.

This review was written based on a privately purchased retail copy. No compensation was involved.c2015 by Richard A. Edwards

Shadows of Brimstone. Flying Frog Productions, 2014. $100. Designed by Jason C. Hill, art by Jack Scott Hill, and music by Mary Beth Magallanes. Fully cooperative, dungeon-crawl game set in a Weird Wild West. Over 200 cards, dice, counters, Rule and Adventure books, and a CD soundtrack. 1-4 players (1-6 with two core sets).

Players form a posse, working fully cooperatively, and assume the roles of archetypical western heroes to go on adventures down in the mines of the Weird Wild West setting of Brimstone. Each core set comes with 4 hero classes that develop using experience points, gold, and items over the course of many games. And each core set also includes an “Other World” full of Lovecraftian horrors that are seeping out through the mines. The game is heavily deck driven with the game’s opposition being provided by random card draws and dice rolls. There is a “going to town” mini-game that occurs between missions down in the mines that allows characters to rearm and prepare for the next game.

The Weird Wild West theme is everywhere in this game, from the artwork and components to the soundtrack and story. It is truly an RPG-like board game experience from the start, when you create your hero from an initial class but choose a single starting upgrade ability and draw a personal item that will make your character unique. The card and dice driven board mechanics create a different mine layout and otherworld trails, including encounters and fights that is different every time.

If you’re not into hobby miniature games, you may bemoan (as I did) having to assemble the more than two dozen miniatures, the brittle plastic of which has already seen one break. And if you do not like heavily random games, then you may not appreciate the mechanics which make this game highly replayable because it is so different each time. Being heavily card driven, there are a lot of decks to manage and late in the game there will be a lot of card effects in play that impact each other. While the rules are straightforward the highly variable situations can create instances with questions.

Shadows of Brimstone does an amazing job of producing many hours of cooperative gaming in a western horror setting with Darkness creeping forward while you and your fellow posse members delve into the mines, seeking treasure and glory.

This review was written based on a privately purchased copy. No previous relationship with the game publisher nor compensation was involved.